Fights back against Trump Tax Bill that increased the property tax burden on hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans

Friday, June 29, 2018

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee that sets national tax policy, grilled President Trump’s nominee for IRS Commissioner, Charles Rettig, about the Trump Administration’s repeated efforts to increase the property tax burden on middle-class New Jerseyans. Senator Menendez criticized the IRS’s recent guidance that appears to target only blue-sates, like New Jersey, that have developed charitable state-tax credit programs, while ignoring 32 other states, many of which are conservative, that operate similar or nearly identical programs for years.

“This is a serious issue that could raise property tax burdens and sow confusion for hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans. And they deserve a clear answer,” said Sen. Menendez. Mr. Rettig pledged to treat New Jersey and all states equally regardless of political leaning and implied that some so-called red-state charitable programs could be in noncompliance with the new Trump Tax Law.

Sen. Menendez concluded by warning Mr. Rettig from using the IRS as a political weapon. “The one thing I don’t want to see is the IRS weaponized against states like mine. It’s either good for everyone, the 32 states that have been doing this, and the District of Columbia, or it’s good for nobody.”

The Republican federal tax law, which passed the Senate on a strictly party-line vote, will hurt many New Jersey taxpayers who pay more than $10,000 in state and local property taxes. Estimates indicate that more than one-in-10 New Jersey households will see an increase in their federal income taxes.

Sen. Menendez is the author of legislation in the U.S. Senate to fully restore the State and Local Tax Deduction (SALT). He also led the New Jersey Congressional delegation’s response to the recent announcement by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that it intends to issue new rules to effectively block New Jersey’s efforts to protect its taxpayers from the Trump Tax Law’s $10,000 cap on SALT deductions, resulting in the double-taxing of up to 1.8 million, or 40 percent of New Jersey taxpayers.